NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The last time — well, the only other time — that Jordan Vandergriff raced down the Pomona dragstrip was in 2019, when he was in a lone 11-race Top Fuel campaign. Between then and now, he’s been out beating the bushes for a way back in, appearing on The Bachelorette television show, doing pit reporting for NHRA’s FOX race coverage, and serving as a fill-in driver last year for injured Shawn Reed.

Now he’s back in Pomona, and he enters Saturday as the No. 1 qualifier, driving the John Force Racing Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Funny Car formerly driven by the guy he beat in that first round seven years ago, Austin Prock. Both were in Top Fuel back then, and both are in Funny Car now, and the irony of taking the seat of the guy he beat is not lost on Vandergriff.

“Good memories,” he assessed. “Racing here in Pomona in 2019, at my hometown track — I was born just down the freeway in Brea — that was the first time I ever got a chance to run here. And how that first round went was great, and our careers are intertwined. They're going to continue to be intertwined, and I wouldn't want it any other way. And you know, if you want to be the best, you gotta beat the best, so I feel fortunate enough to be in the position I'm in now, and we're No. 1.

“Racing at my home track is very motivating. My entire family is here. My family company, Hedman Hedders, has a suite in the tower, and my dad wanted to bring everybody out and show them a good time. I've got so many people here. Pomona has always meant something special. You know, growing up here, watching my uncle [Bob] race, this is where drag racing was introduced to me, and now that I'm here on the same track, it's pretty surreal. And I would be lying to you if I told you I didn't want to win this one badly."

“This one” is the milestone 1,000th Funny Car race in NHRA history, and driving for John Force Racing, the greatest Funny Car operation in drag racing history, plays into Vandergriff’s desire.

Pomona and John Force Racing, it's synonymous, right?’ he said. “Their home is in Yorba Linda, just down the road, and I grew up in Brea, the neighboring town next to it. So Southern California means a lot to us as an organization, and it feels different when we're home here. We all want to do it for John, and it'd be fitting for one of us to win it.”

Overall, John Force Racing drivers have won 32 times in three events at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip (17 times in the Winternationals, 14 times in the Finals, plus Force’s win in the 50th Anniversary NHRA Nationals in 2001).

Vandegriff is in just his third race in a Funny Car and is still learning the ropes, but he gets stronger with every run.

“My confidence is getting there,” he said. “I don't know what’s going to happen when you climb into these Funny Cars. I think I've programmed myself to think that you’re never gonna get full confident. You're always on edge and ready to go. But yeah, after testing, I felt pretty good, and here in Pomona is the best I've felt so far.

“I'm feeling the race car. I get in there, and you don't know what's going to happen on every run, so I'm trying my best to feel it. And you know, maybe I'm a little late still on something, on some moves, but that's going to come with time. So the more I feel, the more runs I have, the better I'm going to get. And so far so good, I would say.”